National Basketball Association

Atlanta Will Host First Ever "Unity Game"

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

The Atlanta Hawks will host the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA’s first-ever unity game. Celebrating multicultural groups, diverse populations and organizations committed to improving relations amongst different groups.

With so much going on in the world today, professional sports teams and the athletes who play them have gotten more and more involved. With the Colin Kaepernick’s of the world protesting injustices of the country, more and more teams have decided to take a stand on matters that are important to them. For the Hawks, they have decided to do something new, which will unite different cultures and populations. On October 10th, the Hawks will host the Cleveland Cavaliers which they will call it a first-ever “Unity Game”.

Members of the Hawks organization will participate in two major events prior to the Unity Game: an all-staff service day (six service projects within the city of Atlanta) and the 46th Atlanta Pride Festival, the largest event of its kind in the Southeast.

The concept for Unity Day came from an all-employee internal forum on July 19th, which followed a series of unsettling and alarming events around the nation during the summer. The staff was challenged to think of ways the Hawks organization could unite the city and continue the positive and peaceful conversation taking place in Atlanta. Within the forum, the consistent themes of community service, inclusion and using basketball as a change agent/unifier led to the creation of the event.

“Our organization has seen firsthand how a sports team, its staff and every member, can positively affect the morale of a city. We have a brand promise to entertain and unite the city of Atlanta and we think our Unity Game is another great step toward keeping that promise,” Atlanta Hawks CEO Steve Koonin said. “We are thankful that the Cavaliers share similar values of inclusion and diversity and understand the importance sports can play beyond the court.”